You heard from the TrueHoop Network yesterday. Today, I thought it would be a good day to run some more predictions from people who know the Nets best. NAS asked an assortment of Nets beat writers and bloggers 10 over/under questions related to the upcoming season. While I’m not typically in the business of making predictions – putting things in writing hurts so much if you end up being terribly, terribly wrong – I thought this would be a quick and easy way to stir some debate between writers, bloggers and fans.
Participating in the “NAS Over/Under Throwdown” is Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger, Al Iannazzone, from the Bergen Record, Julian Garcia from the Daily News, Rory Toohey from Slippery When Nets, Gregory Hrinya from Nets Examiner, Henry Abbott from ESPN’s TrueHoop and Kelly Dwyer from Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie. Just to show that I’m not a total coward, I will also give you my responses to these questions:
1. Total Nets Victories – 34
D’Alessandro: Under
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Over
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Under
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Under
More from Iannazzone:
I think the Nets will need some time to gel, especially with all the injuries they’ve had this preseason. They have questions at power forward with Yi Jianlian and guys who have been banged up. And for the most part, their starting five is going to be inexperienced with one third-year guy and three second-year players. Still looking in the 20s for wins.
2. Devin Harris points per game – 21
D’Alessandro: Under
Iannazzone: Over
Garcia: Under
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Over
Ginocchio: Over
More from Toohey:
My first reaction was to say “over,” but the Nets have a lot of backcourt depth, which may mean Harris will not have to log a lot of minutes or carry a big scoring burden.
3. Brook Lopez rebounds per game – 10
D’Alessandro: Under
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Under
Toohey: Over
Hrinya: Over
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Over
More from Hrinya:
Lopez hauled in about eight boards a game last season, but his role is likely to increase. Lawrence Frank is preaching defense and that starts
underneath the basket. Expect Lopez to expand upon his 30 minutes per game, meaning an increase in rebounds.
4. Yi Jianlian points per game – 14
D’Alessandro: Under
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Over
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Under
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Over
More from Ginocchio:
So I obviously set the questions for this challenge, and there’s a reason why I pegged Yi at around 14. I understand I’m going out on a limb here, but I think Yi has looked great in the preseason. A combination of more touches, and maybe some injuries in the backcourt like we’ve seen so far could lead to more points for Yi. Is he going to be a “star?” not likely. But I can see him evolve in a 14 and 8 guy.
5. Terrence Williams total starts – 40
D’Alessandro:Under
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Under
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Over
More from Ginocchio:
Terrence Williams can potentially slot in at SF, SG and PG. Players will get injured and though Chris Doulgas-Roberts seems to have a grasp on the SF slot, if he’s ineffective or hurt, I can see TWill getting the start and never looking back.
6. Courtney Lee points per game – 12
D’Alessandro: Over
Iannazzone: Over
Garcia: Over
Toohey: Over
Hrinya: Over
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Over
Ginocchio: Over
More from Hrinya:
Over and by a lot. Courtney Lee averaged 8.4 ppg in 25.2 minutes per game. Lee was a role player on Orlando, he will be a feature player on the Nets that will need to make up for the loss of Carter.
7. Starts by a point guard other than Devin Harris – 10
D’Alessandro: Over
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Over
Toohey: Over
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Over
Ginocchio: Over
More from Toohey:
Devin Harris always has a few ankle issues. Also, the point guard depth is phenomenal, allowing the Nets to rest Harris. This may be the mindset if the Nets are eliminated from the playoffs.
8. Starts by a power forward other than Yi – 15
D’Alessandro: Over
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Under
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Over
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Under
More from Hrinya:
He could very easily fall out of favor with coaches. Eduardo Najera and Bobby Simmons could fill that role. Look for Najera to be a surprise replacement for Yi.
9. Chris Douglas-Roberts minutes per game – 18
Disclaimer: These questions were originally developed at the start of the preseason. If I knew Lawrence Frank was really open to playing CDR at the three, I would have set a different margin here.
D’Alessandro: Over
Iannazzone: Over
Garcia: Over
Toohey: Over
Hrinya: Over
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Over
Ginocchio: Over
More from Iannazzone:
Other than Lopez, Douglas-Roberts has been the most consistent player in camp. He worked on his game over the summer and it’s shown as he’s come out with a take-no-prisoners attitude. He should have a breakout year.
10. Nets Team Defense, points allowed – 101
D’Alessandro: Under
Iannazzone: Under
Garcia: Under
Toohey: Under
Hrinya: Under
Abbott: Over
Dwyer: Under
Ginocchio: Over
More from Iannazzone:
If the Nets play a fast-paced game they’re going to give up more points. Of course, they’re hoping to run off of misses and turnovers that they cause. They might be better served to try and score with six or seven seconds left on the shot clock than shooting in seven seconds or less.